One florist. One pianist. One love story . . . One hundred years in the making.
Ricki Wilde has many talents, but being a Wilde isn’t one of them. As the impulsive, artistic daughter of a powerful Atlanta dynasty, she’s the opposite of her famous socialite sisters. In her bones, Ricki knows that somewhere, a more exciting life awaits her.
So, when she is invited to rent the bottom floor of a Harlem brownstone, Ricki jumps at the chance for a fresh start. She leaves behind her wealth and chaotic romantic decisions to realize her dream of opening a flower shop. Then one evening in February, as the heady scent of night-blooming jasmine fills the air, Ricki encounters a handsome stranger who knocks her world off balance in the most unexpected way.
Set against the backdrop of modern Harlem and Renaissance glamour, A Love Song for Ricki Wilde is a swoon-worthy love story of two passionate artists drawn to the magic, romance, and opportunity of New York.
The Review:
There was a discussion on Twitter (or X now I guess) a while back about which author you’d want to write your love story.
I said Tia Williams (or Kennedy Ryan and/or Joya Goffney)
And I stand by it.
This was one of my most anticipated reads after loving Seven Days in June. The way Ms Williams creates these very relatable characters and manages to make you fall in love with them is a testament to her writing. Her writing is passionate, yet real. Honest, but funny.
“To me, love is like listening to an album. Some people skip to their favorite songs and ignore the rest. Other people listen to the entire album over and over, until it’s familiar and cherished and they know every note by heart … He was music I could listen to forever.”
If someone said I was music they could listen to forever, I’d cry for a week straight.
We’re introduced to Ricki Wilde. The youngest daughter of a very wealthy family and I guess the ‘black sheep’ as you’d call it. She doesn’t want any part of the family business and in fact, she’s determined to follow her dreams. Despite the wealthiness of this character, Ricki was very relatable. Her bravery to stand up to her family and seek out her own path is one many can empathise with. I really did love the way Ricki was written. You get the impression she’s kind-hearted and sweet.
Very much a people pleaser that is taken for granted by pretty much everyone she meets.
So when she begins to forge her own connections with Ms Della and Tuesday, you can’t help but root for her. Making new relationships as an adult is SO hard. You get older and feel like it’s too late. Especially when you look around and many people have friends from their schooling age.
You feel like you’ve missed an important chapter and there’s no point turning back now.
Yet, Ricki is an example of how it’s never too late to make new friends. And that family is what you make it. There’s a beauty in choosing your own family. To decide that this person is your surrogate mother, sister, brother, uncle, father etc. And that was by far my favourite part of the book. Witnessing Ricki and Ms Della’s blossoming relationship despite the age difference and the situations that stand in their way.
Gosh – it was truly heart-warming.
“You can’t cheat grief, Ricki. You have to work with it. Accommodate it.”
I guess, I can’t not talk about Ezra, Ricki’s love interest. But before I do. Sorry – I’ve read a few reviews of this book and not a single one mentions that there’s a HUGE plot twist. And I NEVER expected the plot to go where it did.
Of course, as I was reading I had a few questions. Moments where I’d pause reading and think to myself, ‘what’s going on here? Surely not.’ But I don’t think anything could have prepared me for where the plot went.
I’m still trying to wrap my head around it.
Yet, I’m not mad at it. The soulmate trope isn’t my favourite one when it comes to romances. I find it’s a little difficult to get behind. The romance feels rushed and confused. It’s dangerously toeing the line between insta-love, which frustrates me.
But, I really wasn’t mad at this one.
I really loved the ode to the Harlem Renaissance. Tia explored so much from Black farmers, WW1, the crack epidemic and so much more. I thought it was beautifully done and so clever how Tia touched on the history of Black music through Ezra. I laughed out loud at some points because you could tell so much research had been done. If I didn’t know it was fiction, I think I would have even believed that Ezra had a hand in some of Biggie and Stevie Wonder’s lyrics.
Oh I loved that Tia gives us a brief look at the her past characters. Cos hello – I was grinning the entire time I was reading the smallest bit about Eva and Shane.
“Love should never hurt. Rejection, abandonment, cruelty, so forth, those things hurt. But love, itself? No.”
I think I would have loved to have seen more of Ricki’s family – purely from a selfish view so they could see she’s proving them incredibly wrong. I also did struggle with how quickly everyone excepts Ezra after his ‘story’, which I feel takes a little too long to unravel.
But all in all, this was a lovely romance story set against the Harlem Renaissance. It’s lovingly cheesy with real world references. If you’re looking for the soulmate trope, found-family, flower puns, dual timelines, historical fiction, magic realism and a mystery? Then look no further:
A Love Song for Ricki Wilde has it all.
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